First off, this has already been discussed in the rant section in the past: http://forums.x-pilot.com/index.php?topic=968.0 Karma has proven to be a positive tool and way on this forum to assist in the change of behavior. In fact, we have seen a couple of people turn around from it in a major way. At this time, we only have ONE person so deep in the negatives, and we all know who it is. He's a good, enthusiastic person of the forums who is full of excitement, and it doesn't warrant a ban. As time goes on I do see improvement, and we'll always monitor stuff like this. It wasn't. Matthew had a negative rating long before entrance to this thread. We do NOT allow bullying with this system, and log ALL karma transactions. Any excessive behavior to try and give someone negative karma in a vindictive manner would be caught and dealt with, and we have yet to cross that bridge. This is in part due to the system having measures in places to not allow more than one smite at a time, and the same goes for applauding. It will simply stop you from doing so. At this time we will not be pulling out the Karma feature. We get many positive comments on it even behind closed doors, and it seems majority of people consider it a "something to work for" type thing. If you don't like or appreciate it, then that's your gig and you can ignore it. It's really as simple as that. Don't misjudge Karma as the sole moderation tool around here...it's not. This should be the end or nearing the end of this "topic" within this topic. Let's not stray too far away from the original subject, please.